12 Years Ago Today:
The Blue Jays and Tigers endured an epic 19-inning showdown that lasted 6 hours and 37 minutes, setting franchise records for both innings played and game duration. Notably, the Jays would later lose another 19-inning contest in 2016.
The Blue Jays ultimately prevailed, defeating the Tigers 6-5.
In the marathon’s 19th inning:
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Munenori Kawasaki, who had previously gone 0-for-5 with a walk, began the inning with a single. Kawasaki entered the game in the seventh as a pinch-hitter for Ryan Goins. Rick Porcello was pitching his second inning for Detroit.
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Jose Reyes followed with a bunt, prompting Porcello to throw wide to second base—putting runners on the corners.
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The Tigers intentionally walked Melky Cabrera to load the bases for Jose Bautista. I never quite understand walking the bases loaded to face a hitter like Bautista, who had a .411 OBP at the time—it makes a walk a potential game-winner. If it were me, I’d rather pitch to Melky and walk Bautista to face Juan Francisco with the bases loaded. Of course, no one’s offering me a manager’s job.
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Bautista hit a deep fly ball—not quite a home run, but deep enough for the winning run to score. Because the outfield was playing shallow, the Tigers didn’t attempt a catch, and the play was ruled a single. The Jays walked off with a 6-5 win. In a memorable post-game moment, R.A. Dickey ran over and kissed Bautista during his interview.
Before the late-game heroics:
Mark Buehrle started but struggled, lasting just 3.1 innings and surrendering 9 hits and 5 runs (only 2 earned), with no walks and 4 strikeouts. A Jose Reyes error in the first inning proved costly.
After Buehrle exited, the Jays’ bullpen delivered 15.2 innings of scoreless relief, utilizing seven different relievers:
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Chad Jenkins: 6 innings, 7 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts. He pitched into and out of trouble in most of his 6 innings. He only had 1 clean inning, but it worked.
Jenkins was easily one of the game’s heroes, delivering a gutsy performance. Remarkably, he would appear in just three more games for the Blue Jays—one just four days later, and two the following season—marking the end of his MLB career.
I did have some issues with how the bullpen was managed. In extra-inning, tightly contested games, relievers should often be asked to pitch multiple innings. By the time Jenkins entered, he was the last available option in the bullpen (though if necessary, R.A. Dickey might have been called upon). Managers sometimes overlook the possibility of games stretching far beyond nine innings—something much less common now with the extra-innings “Manfred Man” rule.
Offensively, the Jays fell behind 3-0 after the first inning and 5-0 after the fourth, but battled back to score:
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2 in the seventh: Steven Tolleson (remember him?) walked. Colby Rasmus singled. That was the end of the day for David Price. He went 6 innings, allowed 5 hits, 4 earned, 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. An out later, with Phil Coke in, Reyes singled home Tolleson and Cabrera singled home Rasmus. That was it for Coke; the unusually named Al Alburquerque came in, finished the inning, and pitched the next.
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1 in the ninth: Joba Chamberlain came in for the inning. Anthony Gose led off with a single. Gose was pinch-hitting for Tolleson. He would go 2 for 6, on the day after coming into the game in the ninth inning. Rasmus struck out, Gose went for second on the two-strike pitch and, initially, was called out, but it was overturned on replay. That saved the game. After a Kawasaki lined out, Reyes singled home Gose. Tie game. It would stay tied for 9.5 more innings. It was Anthony Gose’s birthday (it still is; he turns 34 today; he pitched in one game for the Guardians this season and then was DFAed).
We had 17 hits (8 after the ninth inning; Tigers had 22 hits, 11 after the ninth inning). Reyes was 4 for 9. Cabrera was 3 for 5 with 5 walks (43 walks that year, and 5 were in this game, including 2 intentional walks). Valencia, Navarro, Gose and Rasmus had 2 walks each. The most significant 0 for was a 0 for 7 for Nolan Reimold (with 2 walks).
Want to talk about old-school management? The Tigers handed out 5 intentional walks. Two each for Melky and Bautista and one for Rasmus.
We intentionally walked Victor Martinez twice.
From the recap (if you want an inning-by-inning recap of the extra innings, it is there):
Jays of the Day are: McGowan (.226), Janssen (.143), Sanchez (.120), Loup (.117). Super JotD are: Reyes (.606), Melky (.457). Finally, Chad Jenkins had a .861 WPA(!), good for the team’s first Ultra Jay of the Day (> .800 WPA) since Bautista and Kawasaki did it 4 days apart in May 2013 (which makes it seem much more common an occurrence than it is).
Suckage: Buehrle (-.287), Francisco (-.512), Thole (-.342), Reimold (-.296), Kawasaki (-.367). Bautista had the number, too (-.328), but I can’t give him one.
17 Years Ago
In a surprising move, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi placed Alex Rios on waivers.
At the time, Rios was owed $60 million and had struggled with consistency, posting a .264/.317/.427 line with 14 home runs that season.
The White Sox claimed Rios, and while many expected a trade, Chicago offered nothing in return. After brief consideration, Ricciardi simply let him go, making it a controversial decision—essentially giving away a former All-Star for salary relief.
Rios went on to spend five seasons with the White Sox, hitting .269/.310/.430 with 74 home runs. He later played for the Rangers and Royals, retiring in 2015 with career totals of .277/.321/.434, 169 home runs, and 253 stolen bases.
Though he had two excellent seasons in 2006 and 2007 (.299/.352/.505, 41 homers combined), Rios never quite developed into the star many expected. While he was a solid defender, he occasionally seemed unfocused. In hindsight, perhaps fans simply expected too much.
Read the full article here